Bale forced terminator rewrite

Christian Bale forced writers of Terminator Salvation to rework the script to give him a bigger part - as the actor was determined to play the iconic role of John Connor in the sci-fi franchise.

Bale was originally offered the lead role of Marcus Wright in the upcoming sequel, but the Batman star turned the part down - insisting he would only play Connor in the film.

The character featured in all three previous Terminator movies but was only set for a brief appearance in the latest outing.

So writers were ordered to revamp the script to give Bale a bigger role.

Terminator Salvation scriptwriter John Brancato says, "A lot of the work was integrating (Connor) into scenes... and having that feel integral and sensible, as opposed to grafted on just because there was a star in the part."

The new movie hits cinemas on 21 May (09).